


in the eye of the beholder

by rukafais



Series: one within the iris [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, genji is surprised Yet Again, zenyatta's having fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 05:39:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6942049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rukafais/pseuds/rukafais
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Learning to appreciate the beauty of the natural world takes a while when you can’t even appreciate yourself. Zenyatta, as always, has something to say about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the eye of the beholder

“You should learn to appreciate the beauty of what is around you, Genji.” They’ve stopped by a riverbank, somewhere in the wilderness. It’s not far from a scene of robotic carnage; twisted metal litters a clearing nearby, earth scorched by some kind of weaponry, and that’s all Genji really takes into consideration at this point.

“Why?” His voice is tired; though he no longer has most of his body, his brain seems to think he still does. Phantom aches and pains make his artificial limbs twitch in protest. “It’s not beautiful, Zenyatta. People died here.”

(It’s not hard to imagine Zenyatta - frail, gentle, quiet - as just one more of those twisted remains. The thought makes him flinch away, somehow.)

He doesn’t wait for a response, and instead wades into the river until he’s standing knee-deep. Clear water pounds away at legs that only think they’re sore, and somehow the rhythm of it helps. The water doesn’t care what he thinks. The water doesn’t even know what he is.

“I know.” The omnic’s voice is unwavering, but there’s a tinge of some other emotion there. He can’t quite tell what it is yet. “But I do not mean that their deaths were beautiful, or what remains of them holds beauty. There is no beauty in death, or what it leaves behind.”

The silence stretches between them, punctuated only by the sound of running water, distant birdsong. Genji finally breaks it.

“Then what do you mean by saying that?” His voice is exaggeratedly patient. He’s more tolerant of the omnic now, but it doesn’t mean he’s going to just accept whatever Zenyatta tells him. To be honest, a lot of it sounds like what people try to pass off as some kind of deep wisdom without thinking it through to make sure it actually makes any kind of sense.

“Beauty is found in all kinds of places.” (Genji huffs, thinking about the kind of activities he’d used to do. His old, dead self might have had a witty retort for that, but he does not.) “It exists not as an innate quality of an object, but only in how the viewer responds to the world around them.”

This reasoning is considered, for a moment. 

“That sounds like something people say because they want to sound deep,” Genji says, eventually.

“Is that so?” Zenyatta sounds amused, strangely enough, rather than offended. He can’t actually remember if Zenyatta has gotten even mildly annoyed at anything he’s said or done in their short time together, and to be honest, it probably hasn’t happened. “Well, it holds true. There is beauty in the trees, and the good weather today. The beginnings of birdsong, as they look for mates and food, because birds have much less to worry about...”

(Was that a joke? The omnic says it all in the same peaceful, benevolent tone, so Genji can’t...quite tell. He loses track of what Zenyatta’s saying, and comes back just in time to hear)

“And there is beauty in you, too.”

“Impossible.” The retort is instant, and flat. His shadow falls over the water as he leans forward. 

“There is nothing _beautiful_ about - _this_.” 

A quick slash of his hand across the water’s surface; it disrupts what little image can be seen there. But he _knows_ what’s left; he doesn’t have to look at what he is to bring a fresh wave of disgust rolling in.

“Well, you glowing green is quite pretty,” Zenyatta remarks, and that’s unexpected enough to catch Genji completely off-guard.

“What?”

“The hue of your helmet, and your lights. Those are a lovely shade.” The omnic taps lightly at his shoulders, then at his helmet; where Genji’s cheek would be, if he still had one. 

(It’s the first time Zenyatta has physically reached out to touch him. Genji lets him have it, half out of bewilderment and half out of the realisation that he can’t remember the last time someone had touched him with no real intent in mind.)

“And that’s beauty, is it?” the cyborg manages, after a moment, gesturing to himself in confusion. “Glowing green lights?”

“It is a start,” Zenyatta says, with more than a hint of amusement.

“A start?”

“You did not _disagree_ with my assessment, did you?”

Genji sputters, completely at a loss. “That doesn’t -- mean--”

Zenyatta floats away, serene; Genji follows, still spluttering and trying to form a coherent sentence.

He does not, however, voice a disagreement.

(The next night, when they stop, he looks at his hands, turns his head a little to inspect his shoulder lights. Zenyatta chuckles, because the omnic is annoyingly perceptive and doesn’t miss _anything_ and especially not when he can embarrass Genji with it.

But he’s right, he admits to himself, after a moment.

It is a nice shade.)

**Author's Note:**

> I almost titled this 'in the iris of the beholder', so now you know how much worse it could have been.
> 
> Why no I am not going to stop writing about robots and cyborgs why do you ask


End file.
